FEATURE:
Second Spin
The Beautiful South - Quench
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IN the latest part…
IN THIS PHOTO: The Beautiful South’s Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
of my Second Spin feature, I am focusing on a band that I have a lot of love for. Although The Beautiful South split years ago, I still think their music stands apart, and they are one of those groups that have penned so many classics. With the songwriting coming from Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray, the band put out ten studio albums – their final, Superbi, came out in 2006. Whilst my favourite album from The Beautiful South is Choke from 1990, I think Quench is an album that gets overlooked a lot. It arrived in 1998 and, following the success of 1996’s Blue Is the Colour, maybe it marked a bit of a dip from the band. I love the tracks on the album, and the vocals from Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbott and Dave Hemingway are stunning. You can buy Quench here, and it is well worth getting hold of. The band’s sixth studio album was not a big critical success but, thanks to some epic singles, it was the band’s third album in a row to hit the top of the charts. The eye-catching cover of Quench depicts a boxer by Scottish painter Peter Howson. Commissioned for the album, the original painting can be seen in the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull. After the band cropped the image and used it in merchandise and promotional material, Howson took legal action against the band. It is a bit of a shame that was some controversy regarding the album cover because, when you explore Quench, you get this great mix of instant gems and those more slow-burning numbers.
If, like me, you were a teen when Quench arrived, a lot of your friends would have been chatting about singles such as Perfect 10, and Dumb. Perfect 10 was this huge hit, and it reached number-two in the charts. That natural and striking interplay between Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott is one reason why the song is such a fantastic piece of work. The lyrics are humorous and memorable, and it is one of those songs that we all know. I think Dumb is one of those songs that doesn’t get the acclaim is warrants. The second single from Quench, I love the simplicity of it, and the effectiveness of backing vocals from Dave Hemingway and Jacqui Abbott. How Long's a Tear Take to Dry? Is another single from the album and, when you look at the tracklist, there are three or four songs that match the very best from The Beautiful South. One of Quench’s problems might be that the biggest hits are in the top half. The album is quite top-heavy, and some momentum does get lost. Songs on the second half such as The Table, Window Shopping for Blinds, and Your Father and I are brilliant, and I think the compositions are varied and brilliant throughout. Heaton’s lyrics are always sharp and gold, and I don’t think he lost any of his touch on Quench. Maybe there is nothing quite as sharp as Don’t Marry Her, or the mighty Old Red Eyes Is Back, but that is not to say Quench is arid and dehydrated.
In fact, listen to the non-single tracks, and there are some really interesting stories being told. Look What I Found in My Beer contains the brilliant lines “Look what I found in my beer/A couple of dancing ladies and a ticket out of here/Look what I found in my beer/A start to being lonely and an end to my career”, whilst I love the intrigue and poetry of these lines from Big Coin – “It's a tiny little heart that challenges the coin/But the coin has no beat or no breath/Big coin won't even leave you a love note/Big coin, big death”. The reviews for Quench are largely mixed, despite the fact the album sold really well and spawned a few enduring hits. This is what AllMusic had to say when they tackled the album:
“In what has become a familiar pattern, Quench, the Beautiful South's sixth regular album release (not counting the singles compilation Carry on Up the Charts), entered the British charts at number one in October 1998, following the number two success of its single, "Perfect 10," while in the U.S. its release was delayed until July 1999, when it made no commercial impression at all. As usual, Paul Heaton and his comrades take a jaundiced look at the world while crooning melodically over pop, rock, and cocktail jazz tracks. The CD booklet contains only one photograph, an out-of-focus shot of a barroom, and as the album's title implies, Quench is awash in alcohol.
Its most telling self-portrait may be "Look What I Found in My Beer," in which Heaton views his musical career as his salvation from alcoholism and self-loathing. "Look what I found in the mic," he sings, "An end to screwed-up drinking and a Paul I actually like." But he often uses metaphors to get across his viewpoint, notably on such songs as "The Slide," "The Table," and "Window Shopping for Blinds." Singer Jacqueline Abbott serves as his foil and expands the dramatic possibilities, especially on the album-closing "Your Father and I," in which parents tell conflicting stories about a child's conception and birth, only to conclude, "Your father and I won't tell the truth." If the Beautiful South's early work mixed biting sarcasm with pop riffs, Quench finds the group playing in less of a pop style, while Heaton's lyrics have become more bitter and self-pitying, but no less witty. Still, American recognition continues to seem unlikely for a writer who likes to make puns involving Peter Lorre and a lorry (that's a truck to us Yankees)”.
It is a shame that, years after The Beautiful South split, that albums like Quench are not being revaluated and given new attention. The band did record more consistent and popular albums, but I think Quench is awash with their patented mix of humour, pathos, and that wonderful chemistry that they held onto through the years. I like the vocal line-up of Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbott and Dave Hemingway, as the different tones blend wonderfully. I have been looking around to see a review that does Quench justice, but most are quite lukewarm.
This is PopMatters’ assessment of Quench:
“It may be inexplicable to the Brits, but on this side of the pond the Beautiful South barely rate a "yeah, they're OK" among the folks that have even heard of them. That's an injustice, of course, and may have more to do with the lack of appreciation, much less a market, for terribly, clever subversion (just ask Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy) about it). That's what Paul Heaton and company do best, you know. Beneath the middle of the road arrangements, which Heaton himself has acknowledged are nothing earth shattering, lurk some of the most bitterly funny lyrics to emerge from the sceptered Isle since the days of Noel Coward. One can almost imagine Heaton's pen being behind a line like: "If England is a garden/then we ought to have more manure." (from Coward's "There Are Bad Times Just Around the Corner").
Quench follows up the bluesy Blue Is The Colour, and, while is not on the level of their debut Welcome to the Beautiful South, does manage to add a bit rockier touch and the witty lyrics for which they are famous. If you're a fan, give it a go. If you've never heard these guys, start with the greatest hits album Carry On Up the Charts”.
I have a lot of affection for Quench, perhaps because I was in high-school when it came out, and there were some good memories from that time. Listening back some twenty-two years later, and I think Quench stands up, and the tracks do not sound dated or slight. There are one or two weak spots near the end of the album, but the majority of tracks are strong and stand up to repeated listens. There is, as I said, that blend of the hits and lesser-heard tracks that makes Quench such an interesting record. If you get the chance to play this brilliant album, you’ll hear that it deserves…
MORE love than the critics gave it.